Gianni Schicchi

Opera-grotesque
Music : Giacomo Puccini

Libretto : Giovacchino Forzano, translated by M. Mishuk

(15 characters & 34 musicians)
Staged by Yuri Alexandrov
Premiere: 27 December 2003

Before us we see an entirely up-to-date, cynical story about how one can bring the dead back to life for the sake of one's own prosperity. The director rejects a crude portrayal of society and the denotation of positive and negative characters. Here we see a merciless view of human vices, evilly and poisonously ridiculed by the director. The lyrical heroes - Rinuccio and Lauretta - are stripped of their romantic halos. Their love is fed by a desire to profit - they too want their share of their uncle's inheritance.

Although the main character in Gianni Schicchi appears in a sympathetic light to audiences, and especially to female audiences, even his justification "in favour of the poor" does not save him from damnation, sent to the Inferno first by the great Dante and now by director Yuri Alexandrov.